The present invention relates to racks, and in particular to a rack for dispensing vertically stacked articles, such as cigarette cartons, photographic film, cassette tapes, and the like.
Dispensing racks for stacked articles, such as the devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,853 to Bahneman, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,596 to Henning, are well known in the art. Such racks are typically used in grocery stores, drug stores, supermarkets, and other similar establishments to both display and dispense regularly shaped articles therefrom, such as cartons of cigarettes, boxes of photographic film, audio and video cassettes, and other similar prepackaged products, such as electronic components, and the like.
Most prior dispensing racks have a multi-piece construction, and are assembled with threaded fasteners, therefore requiring substantial time and effort to assemble and disassemble. Since the space in many dispensing racks is leased by the manufacturer or merchandiser of the articles dispensed therefrom, the racks tend to be moved from one store location to another, as well as between various locations within a given store, on a rather frequent basis During the time that the rack is being assembled and disassembled, it is not available for merchandising use, and furthermore the assembly and disassembly process tends to disrupt other store activities. Hence, the ability to easily and quickly assemble and disassemble such racks is quite important.
Another desirable feature for dispensing racks is the ability to economically change its configuration to accommodate new settings and different products. Furthermore, dispensing racks are preferably arranged to efficiently store a large number of stacked articles with minimum floor space requirements, yet permit easy insertion and removal of the articles from the shelves without jamming.